When one wants to start forex trading, the initial decision one needs to make is which online broker to use. A new trader must research to find a broker who is going to offer them a first-class package as there is a healthy amount of competition in the forex market to pull in new business.
Where brokers may appeal to a trader is in the cost of trading, the level of trader support they provide, and of course what trading platform they use and how well it performs. To know more about the best trading brokers in South Africa you may check this website www.globex360.co.za.
Currency trading platforms must first and foremost provide security for your deposited funds, whether it is $100 or $10,000. Another valuable feature is the ability to stream real-time data for the client to view (of course this is more applicable to stocks and commodities that trade on the actual exchange). This data needs to be displayed so that the user can easily and conveniently locate the key data, eg it should be easy to locate various currency pair listings.
Some additional features that are worth noting are platforms that can be accessed from mobile devices such as PDAs allowing for more flexibility.
The software can be either generic which means it is developed by a third party company and used by various brokerages, a popular example of this currently being MetaTrader 4. The second type is an in-house platform specially designed and used individually. Forex Brokerage.
Many manufacturers of additional forex trading programs, such as forex robots and chart indicator packages, will have designed their products to work on common platforms straight out of the box, while integration with in-house software may have issues.
Also, another factor you should be aware of if you are a US citizen is that some brokers will not allow US citizens to do business with them, due to the SEC being over-protective about their citizens. And unfortunately, it is not limited to forex only.